Bianca Geraldine, who had initially intended to get a drink, stopped when she saw that Ashley was still frozen in the same spot. The girl seemed to be in a trance, staring at the letter in her hand. Bianca watched Ashley, her eyebrows furrowing as she noticed the stark change in the girl's expression. Ashley's face had turned as pale as a ghost as if she was terrified. Her hands were trembling slightly, and she was breathing heavily.
Worried, Bianca tried to call out to the girl. "Ashley?"
The girl with the black hair jumped, startled to see Bianca looking at her with concern. Seeing Bianca Geraldine in front of her, Ashley quickly hid her expression. "Yes?" she answered nervously.
"Are you okay?" Bianca furrowed her brow.
Ashley nodded quickly, faster than she intended. "Yes, I'm fine. What's up?"
Bianca studied her for a moment before giving a small smile. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just worried because you looked so pale."
Ashley rubbed her face and gave an awkward smile. "I'm fine. I might just be tired."
The blonde girl in front of her looked even more concerned. "Are you really okay? I can ask Josh to get you a room. You can rest there."
"No!" Ashley quickly declined. The girl raised her voice a bit, which surprised Bianca.
The Lewis girl winced in embarrassment. "Sorry, I mean, I'm okay. I don't want to trouble anyone."
Seeing this, Bianca nodded in understanding. "Alright, but if you start feeling unwell, you can tell me or Josh, okay?" The Geraldine girl treated her with concern.
Ashley felt a bit shy about Bianca's attention. Despite being in the same major, she and Bianca weren't close. They had only spoken briefly a few times, usually about class-related matters. Because of this, she greatly appreciated Bianca's concern.
Bianca was a top student. Besides being wise, she was also beautiful. With her curly blonde hair, fair skin, and bright blue eyes, she was one of the most attractive girls in her faculty. If Florence's beauty were like a queen's, which made people bow to her, Bianca would have been like an elegant princess.
"Okay."
Bianca then looked around as if searching for something. "Did you come here alone?"
"No, I came with friends." Ashley's eyes scanned the room to find her friends, but neither Flo nor Sam was in sight. "It seems like they're busy with their own things."
"Ah, I see." Bianca's gaze shifted to the D.J., who was busy remixing songs. "How about you come with me? Maybe you can find your friends near the D.J."
Ashley's eyes followed Bianca's gaze to where she saw a crowd dancing. She inwardly winced but couldn't refuse, especially since the blonde girl looked at her so gently.
"... Okay."
Bianca's smile was sweet, her eyelids closing into crescent shapes. "Cool! Let's go!"
Ashley let Bianca pull her into the crowd of people she disliked. The girl with the black hair sighed in resignation. However, she was a little grateful that Bianca had invited her. At least it would distract her from the mysterious letter. What was the letter about? And who sent it?
Ashley was perplexed.
***
Tik
Tik
Tik
Tik
The ticking of the clock's second hand clashed with the pounding of her heart. Both sounds were so loud that she could no longer hear anything in the darkness of the night. But even those sounds were drowned out by the voice in her head. Her thoughts kept repeating the contents of the mysterious letter she had received the night before.
You killed that little girl, Ashley.
Now you can't run anymore.
You killed that little girl, Ashley.
Now you can't run anymore.
Now you can't run anymore.
Now you can't run anymore.
Now you can't run anymore!
THUD!
Ashley reflexively clutched her chest with her left hand, right where her heart was racing uncontrollably. It was pounding so hard that she let out a gasp of pain from the shock. The hazel-eyed girl tried to steady her now heavy breathing. Sweat slowly trickled down her forehead. Her whole body felt weak, and she was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness.
The effect of that letter was extraordinary on Ashley. The nightmare she had always tried to bury deep inside was slowly creeping back into her mind. As time passed, she felt her left hand growing warm. When she rolled up the sleeve of her pajamas, the scar on her arm became visible—a third-degree burn that never disappeared from her skin or her memory.
Suddenly, memories from five years ago seemed to replay in her mind. For some reason, she began to feel that the temperature in her room was rising, and the air supply was thinning, making it harder to breathe. Gradually, she started imagining her room was on fire. She could see flames, small at first, growing more significant over time. Seeing this, Ashley panicked. She tried to control herself but felt like she was becoming her 15-year-old self again—much younger and too scared to fight back.
"No, this isn't real."
"Wake up, this isn't real, Ash! You have to wake up!"
"Ashley, wake up!" she shouted.
"Ashley, are you okay?" Someone's voice broke through her hallucination. The black-haired girl then heard footsteps approaching her room. Shortly after, there was a knock on her door.
"Ash? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a nightmare!"
"Really?" The woman on the other side of the door didn't seem convinced by what she'd just heard. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine, Vanesa. You don't have to worry." The black-haired girl tried her hardest to sound normal. She didn't want her cousin to get suspicious of her unusual behavior.
"Hmm... okay. Sorry, I just got worried about you. You should go back to rest. You have class in the morning, right?"
"Yeah, I've got a morning class."
"Alright then. Hey... if anything happens again, you can call me, okay?"
"Yes, thank you, Vanesa."
"Okay, goodnight, Ash. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight to you too, Vanesa."
Ashley didn't echo her cousin's wish for sweet dreams because the girl knew that her nightmares would become a reality after this.
***
"You look awful. Did you have a fight with Vanesa?" Flo asked as Ashley had just sat down in her seat.
Ashley took her phone from her jacket pocket and opened the front camera. No wonder Flo commented on her appearance. The black-haired girl's face looked pale. The dark circles under her eyes had deepened, a clear sign that she had had a rough night. Her hair, tied back in a ponytail, now looked messy.
"I think I need to go to the restroom."
Flo quickly nodded. She then took out her makeup kit and handed it to Ashley. "Use some concealer to cover those dark circles under your eyes. I don't want a best friend who looks like a panda."
Ashley rolled her eyes and took Flo's makeup kit, thanking her.
Cold water droplets splashed her face as she washed it in the sink. At least this made Ashley feel a little fresher. Now, she just needed to apply concealer and a light layer of makeup. Even though she was a girl, Ashley rarely used much makeup. And when she did, she preferred a natural look that wasn't too noticeable.
As Ashley was busy applying concealer, someone she recognized suddenly walked up beside her. A girl with curly hair joined her in the mirror to put on some makeup.
"Hey, morning," Bianca greeted warmly. Since meeting at Josh's party, Ashley noticed they had been chatting more often, even if it was just small talk like now.
"Morning," Ashley greeted back.
"Ah, looks like we're using the same concealer. This brand is really good," Bianca remarked, suddenly showing the same brand of concealer as hers.
"It's not mine, it's Flo's. She just lent it to me."
"Oh, sorry. I thought it was yours."
"Uhmm... I don't use much makeup."
Bianca nodded in agreement. "You're right. It's important to give our skin a break from makeup. Sometimes I want to come to class bare-faced, but I'm still not confident enough to do that."
Ashley nodded in agreement, unsure of what else to say, as the conversation felt a little awkward to continue. Seeing that Ashley wasn't responding further, Bianca also chose to stay quiet, busying herself by applying nude-red lipstick.
The black-haired girl felt terrible for letting the conversation die but didn't know what else to say. Then, she suddenly remembered the letter Bianca had given her at Josh's party.
"Bianca."
"Yeah?" Bianca didn't turn to look at her; she only raised an eyebrow while glancing at Ashley in the mirror.
"Do you know who gave you that letter? You know, the one addressed to me."
Bianca paused for a moment before finally closing her lipstick. "Uhmm, I don't know. I'm not sure I recognize them."
"What do you mean?" Ashley asked curiously.
"Someone handed me the letter without saying anything. When I tried to follow them, they had already disappeared."
"Was it a man or a woman?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"They were wearing a cloak and mask. I couldn't tell if they were male or female because they just handed me the letter without a word. Why? What did the letter say?"
"Ah, nothing. I was just curious."
"Was it an important letter?" Bianca asked, now intrigued.
Ashley quickly shook her head. "No, it's―" The hazel-eyed girl suddenly panicked. There was no way she could tell Bianca the actual contents of the letter. Her mind scrambled for a rational answer until finally― "It was a love letter. Yeah, a love letter to me."
Bianca's blue eyes sparkled with interest. "Oh, really? Do you know who sent it?"
"Unfortunately, no," Ashley replied nervously. "They didn't include a name."
"Oh, what a shame. That's so romantic, though. You know, expressing feelings through a letter in this day and age. It's pretty old-school, you know?" Ashley felt something strange about Bianca's smile but couldn't pinpoint it. Her usually soft smile now seemed forced.
"Yeah, it is. They're quite unique."
Bianca beamed brightly. "Well, good for you then. I hope you get to meet your secret admirer, Ashley."
"Yeah, I hope so."
Although Ashley wasn't sure if she wanted to meet the actual sender of that letter.
***